Surgery for a patient can be painful and traumatic, particularly in the affected area of the patient's body. For example, the dissection and retraction required to access the surgical site in the patient can cause trauma to the dissected and retracted tissue as well as to the surrounding tissue. Tissue dissection and retraction can be required to insert instruments to a surgical site. To accommodate insertion, sufficient dissection and/or retraction of muscle tissue, nerve tissue, vasculature tissue and other tissue must be made to allow passage of the instrument therethrough.
Surgical instruments can include sharp elements which can cut or cause trauma to tissue in the approach to and adjacent the surgical site. Tissue dissection and retraction may be increased to avoid contact between the instrument and the tissue in the approach to the surgical site. Additionally, delicate anatomical structures may be present at or near the surgical site. Additional instruments or other precautions may be required to protect such tissue that limit or inhibit access to the surgical site.
For spinal surgical procedures, preparation of an endplate for ensuing fusion can require difficult maneuvering and gesturing of surgical instruments, such as curettes or scrapers, to cut or penetrate the bony material of the endplate. Sufficient time and effort during the surgery must be devoted to the use such instruments to obtain the desired result.
There remains a need for instruments and methods that can be employed for preparing a surgical site that minimize tissue dissection and retraction and exposure of the anatomical structures at the surgical site to sharp elements of the instruments. There further remains a need for instruments and methods that can be efficiently and effectively employed for preparing vertebral endplates for ensuing fusion. The present invention is directed to meeting these needs, among others.